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Asking the right tax questions could potentially make a big difference for you and your small business. When you are a small business owner, utilizing a tax preparer is usually a good idea. Here are a few questions that you might want to consider asking a tax preparer.
1. Are You a CPA?
Many people out there that make a living preparing taxes are not CPAs. Some of them can be very good and competent at what they do. However, as a general rule, you will want to limit your dealings to those that have CPAs. A certified public accountant is held to a higher standard than other tax preparers. They have to take tests to become certified and partake in extra education. Therefore, they are more skilled at their job and will be able to offer you a higher level of help than anyone else when it comes to taxes.
2. What Kind of Advice Can You Give Me?
As a business owner, you want to work with someone that can adapt to the individual needs of each business. You do not want to work with a robot that can only spit back basic information that they have learned. You want someone that can think creatively and look at what you need as a business. Any tax preparer can tell you that you need to save your receipts. However, you want someone that can look at your situation and tell you exactly what you need to do in order to lower your taxable income.
3. How Much Experience Do You Have?
In addition to making sure that they are a CPA, you will also want to make sure that they are experienced as well. In most cases, you do not want to hire someone that is straight out of college to handle your business taxes. The taxes for your business are extremely important to you. Therefore, you do not want to entrust them to someone that has not handle this type of work before. You want to deal with someone that has seen it all and done it all for a number of years. This can help you avoid costly penalties and owing back taxes in the future.
4. Do You Offer a Guarantee?
In today's market, some tax preparation offices will provide their clients with some type of a guarantee on their work. This guarantee will be there in case they make a mistake when filing your taxes. If additional money is owed as a result of a mistake that was made on their part, they will pay it for you. While this is not something that is considered to be essential, it can provide you with peace of mind as a business owner. With this type of a guarantee, you know that everything is done once you file your tax return for the year. There will be no surprises in the future or extra bills to pay.
